


Fishing

by Sylvalum



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 22:16:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20415184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylvalum/pseuds/Sylvalum
Summary: Rex pulls up a squood when salvaging. Pyra is concerned.





	Fishing

Pyra’s sitting on one of the jetties in Port Anangham with Nia, talking about what sort of fish really is the best to cook if you’re out in the wilderness, when the commotion first starts. Screams from farther into the port make the both of them jerk around and reach for weapons, and Nia exclaims, “What the hell _ is it _, did the guards really just allow bandits in or what-”

-and then they see the squood.

An enormous beast of a cephalopod, easily bigger than a house, rising out of the Cloud Sea as if yanked by a chain… and standing right in front of it on the dock, is Rex. He’s tiny seen from this distance, and the squood makes him look like an ant. But Rex doesn’t look at all fazed by this; he’s In Salvager gear, standing straight with feet apart, with Pyra’s sword held ready as if he’s actually planning to...

“REX!” Nia yells, as they run toward him. “Are you _ out of your mind?” _

And Rex charges.

Nia yells some more but Pyra _ knows _ he’ll be fine, knows that he knows what he’s doing - or at least that’s what she tells herself as fear and anxiety swell within her, as she starts to sprint even faster, shoving people running in the opposite direction out of the way as she goes, Nia and Dromarch right at her heels.

Mòrag and Brighid, who were hanging out closer to Rex to begin with, are doing crowd control while Tora and Poppi jump in to help Rex, and from the other end of the docks Zeke and Pandoria are sprinting towards Rex just like Pyra is, closer and closer-

The squood does one massive swipe with its tentacles as big as tree trunks, and Pyra’s heart leaps up in her throat even as Rex manages to beat the tentacles back with the sword.

Too close.

Too close, clos_er _, and now Pyra’s close enough to establish an affinity link with Rex, send a blaze of power his way, and hear him shout, “Thanks, Pyra!”

“Be careful!” Pyra shouts back, and then the squood makes the whole port tremble as it slams its body into the side of the port, and Pyra doesn’t stumble, and neither does Rex, her brave determined Rex just stands there with his feet apart just like she taught him and doesn’t even flinch.

Poppi then blasts some sort of projectile at it as Tora yells a Nopon war cry, and Rex retreats so he’s closer to Pyra, and then they’re moving in sync. All is as it should be and the ether between glows a brilliant gold.

“REX!” Nia yells again, and then she’s coming up behind them, Dromarch leaping after her. “_Why!_ Is here! A _ SQUOOD?” _

“Y’know, salvaging!” Rex shouts. “Zeke, Pandoria, you two take the left! Pyra, Nia, Dromarch, with me.”

Tora and Poppi are already on the right, but Zeke hollers his assent and Nia hisses something before falling in line next to them, and then they charge.

It’s not even a very difficult battle, and nobody gets seriously hurt, or even hurt at all. They finish it pretty quickly, and after they’re done the Ardainian coast guard are quick to take over the clean-up under Mòrag’s command, and to be honest, this battle isn’t that special at all. Not the sort of battle Pyra would think much about, except for just this one thing about it:

“You were salvaging?” Pyra asks Rex, as he removes his helmet.

“Yep!” he says, pulling it of, and look, there’s his grin and his bright eyes. “Had a couple extra cylinders with me, so I figured ‘why not?’ but then…”

“A squood,” Nia says gravely, standing with her arms crossed and looming next to Rex. “You pulled up _a squood?”_

“Happens sometimes,” Rex says. “Sometimes you get krabble stuck to your cables, or sometimes they’re inside the cargo itself…”

_ Oh goodness... _

“Rex-Rex find krabble inside of chest?” Tora exclaims incredulously, joining their discussion. “What Rex-Rex do if there are many krabble?”

“Well,” Rex says, and scratches the back of his head. “I usually just killed them and cooked them.”

“But _ a squood _,” Nia demands again. Pyra can relate. “A squood! In Mor Ardain waters!”

“I hadn’t the faintest idea that salvaging could be this dangerous a profession,” Dromarch agrees, sounding a bit faint.

“You didn’t pull up squoods when you were on your own, right?” Pyra asks, feeling more and more worried after every answer Rex gives them.

“No, no,” Rex quickly says, “only krabble and monsters like that. Small fry. Didn’t have the gear to dive in more dangerous waters.”

“And if he had,” Azurda says, fluttering back over to them now that the disaster’s over, “Then I would’ve protected him, don’t worry Pyra.”

“Yeah,” Rex agrees. “I guess you _ were _ pretty useful when you were squood size yourself.”

“Only ‘pretty useful’?” Azurda echoes, and then they’re off bickering again. Pyra smiles a little at them, and then finally allows herself to let go of her tension - Rex _ did _ manage to salvage just fine on his own before he got a team, and _ now _ if he ever pulls up Cloud Sea King Ken, then he’s got all of them there to watch his back. It may be a Blade’s duty to protect their Driver, but Pyra doesn’t have to do it completely alone. They’re all ready to protect each other, fight for each other, guard each other’s backs.

It’s pretty nice to have friends.

“Okay,” Nia then says. “So, you can pull up a squood with just your salvager cables-”

“Yeah, they’re incredibly strong, right?”

“-but you can’t pull up _ two _ squoods, right? Please? Say they’re not strong enough for several squoods?”

“I mean, I’ve never tested it…” Rex begins.

“No!” Pyra, Nia, Dromarch and Azurda all exclaim as one.

“Let’s just assume it won’t work for now,” Azurda then says. “I hardly think two squoods would ever latch onto the same salvage, anyway.”

“I hope so,” Pyra agrees, feeling an entirely new sort of dread when contemplating _ that- _ “Rex, could you please don’t go salvaging by yourself in the future?” she then begs. Dearly hoping he’ll agree. “Just bring me with you if you see a salvaging spot, okay?”

“Sure,” Rex agrees with a smile.

“Thank you,” Pyra says, and she could kiss him, right now, except for all the reasons she can’t.

And then Nia shares a look with Dromarch as Azurda quietly snickers, and Rex says, “What?”

“So Rex can’t salvage alone?” Nia teases. “But just the _ two of you _? Alone at the salvaging spot? Oh, that’s alright.”

“Nia!” Pyra exclaims, feeling her cheeks redden even as her heart flutters at the thought. Rex and her, alone at a remote little cliff above the Cloud Sea, some time away from the rest of them...

Rex, meanwhile, ducks to hide his flushed face and says, “Haha! Yup! Absolutely. I - I mean, if that’s okay with you, Nia?”

“Sure thing,” Nia says, smirking. “Don’t let me intrude on your _ salvaging time _, no, no. Good luck with the squoods, you two.”

The squoods, right. Right. 

Fighting off a squood or two wouldn’t be _ that _ bad a price to pay for some time alone with Rex, though. Would it?

Pyra chances a glance at Rex, and their eyes meet, and he smiles, and then Pyra has to look away again lest her grin become too big.

Right. No, it wouldn’t.


End file.
